anyone know turkeys?

[Adrienne]

I have posted in a few other forums but dont want to go to bed until I know what to do about this little one...

 

Background: I have 4 Broad Brested White turkeys I bought 3 days ago. They are almost all feathered so I believe them to be a few weeks old, but I am not sure of the age. They are currently in a brooder in the garage with no heat light because it is 75+ here at night and 90+ in the day. Where they are in the garage gives them plenty of natural light, but they are kept in the shade through the entire day. I have to wait for David to have time to help me build the more perminant 16x16 enclosure for them, That will probably be Sunday. Tomorrow I am planning to turn my extra large dog crate into a temporary brooder because I think this could have something to do with their space. I chekced them morning and afternoon today and all was well but this evening I noticed that 3 of the turkeys were ganging up and pecking the vent of the last turkey, and tere was blood on the tail feathers. I checked the vent and found it swolen and bleedig. The blood is not gushing, but there does seem to be a fare amount of it all around the vent and between the legs. It doesnt apear to still be flowing, but maybe it is clotting. I imediatly removed the injured turkey, put him/her in a hay filled box with some food and water in the bathtub (our poultry hospital). For now I have left him or her to sleep but am wondering what if anything else I should do for him/her? I do not want to harm him/her further but I am wondering if I should clean off the area, and how best to acomplsih that. When will I know it is ok to return to the flock and how should the reintroduction be accomplsihed?

[Sharon Barreira]

We had this happen one time.  It is true what Deborah stated, once they see blood, they don't stop picking.  We cleaned up the turkey and put Blu-Lote on it and kept it seperated till it healed up.  When we started raising our turkeys in June we ended up with turkeys that weighed between 25 and 31 pounds.  We decided to start them in July this year so they weren't so big.

[Adrienne]

Thanks Deborah,

I'll see what I can do to clean it off and see if  Ican find the source of the problem and apply the peroxide. I really wanted burbon reds, but they all sold out... I don't really want to order 15 from a hatchery though, so I decided to see how I like these.  They should be ready to butcher close to Thanksgiving, and I will put the ones we don't eat that day in the freezer for later.

[Deborah Niemann-Boehle]

I've never had turkeys do this, but I have seen it in pheasants. Birds go crazy for blood, so don't put it back with the others until there is no sign of blood. I've always just squirted hydrogen peroxide on bird injuries, and they seem to heal up fine. I would wait until they have their larger home ready before re-introducing them. If they're young, it shouldn't be a problem just putting them together.